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Pictured: Boulder Creek students walk out of class on March 14, to take part of the national March For Our Lives demonstration to protest gun violence and honor the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla. shooting .
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Hundreds of students at Boulder Creek High School participate in a national walkout to protest gun violence

03/21/18

Tara Alatorre
Staff
ANTHEM – A couple hundred Boulder Creek High School (BCHS) students gathered outside in the campus courtyard to participate in the national March For Our Lives school walkout on March 14, which was organized to protest gun violence and to honor the victims of the Florida shooting.
At approximately 10 a.m. last Wednesday, students participating in the demonstrations left their classrooms but did not leave the Boulder Creek campus. They read the names of the victims, wrote letters and stood in solidarity joining thousands of other students around the nation that participated in the walkouts, which calls for stronger gun control in the United States.
“While Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD) Administrators did not encourage or discourage students to protest, administrators did work with student leadership to keep students safe if they chose to protest,” said Monica Allread the spokesperson for DVUSD, while explaining why students stayed on campus during the demonstration.
The memorial lasted 17 minutes, one minute for each victim killed at the Parkland, Fla. school shooting. Although DVUSD did confirm Boulder Creek and Mountain Ridge high schools had hundreds of students walkout, the district noted thousands of students remained in class.
“Student and school leadership created a positive structure for student expression, learning and safety,” said BCHS Principal Brittany Sutton when asked if the school was successful in reaching a compromise that allowed students to exercise their free speech safely.
Students were informed by BCHS staff that any student who left campus or became disruptive during the demonstration would face consequences, but there were no negative instances reported, according to DVUSD.
“The message was about unification and support,” said Principal Sutton. “BCHS is proud of all of our students, whether they stood outside or stayed in class.”